Edgework

In recent weeks I have noticed on-line how many evangelicals who are inclined toward dispensationalism have become enraptured with the rapture. Led by contemporary gurus like Franklin Graham, rapture enthusiasts are raising the jubilant cry that the rapture is just around the corner! One day soon all true believers will be snatched away from this sin-cursed earth after which it will be visited with fire and fury such as the world has never seen before.

The reason for such warped optimism, of course, is the escalating violence in the Middle East where Israel is besieged on all sides with mortal enemies. According to dispensationalists, this is the precursor to the rapture. In the view of Frank Scheaffer, one of the reasons Donald Trump’s evangelical base is sticking with him is that the global chaos he is fomenting, especially in the Middle East, is hastening the day when they and their kin will be removed from the earth and its problems. Hallelujah! So bring it on, baby. Bring it on!

I will not attempt a full rebuttal of dispensational theology here. However, I will make a few observations about the passage most frequently used to support the idea of the rapture; namely, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Dispensationalists read this passage literally and with the assumption that after meeting the Lord in the air the saints are whisked away to heaven. In his Daily Study Bible, William Barclay refers to this passage as poetry (203). Others, like Jacob Elias writing in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series, say this passage is apocalyptic in nature (188). They would suggest that means we are able to draw some important truths from the passage but that we should not expect every detail to be literally true.

It is important to note that the occasion for writing this passage is pastoral. Christians in Thessalonica are concerned that those among them who have died will miss out on the return of Christ. So the message Paul is giving them is that “We (the dead in Christ and we who are alive, who are left behind) shall be with the Lord always” (Elias,188). It is also important to note that there is no reference in the passage to those meeting “in the air” being taken up to heaven and away from the earth. As a matter of fact, a good case can be made that these saints will accompany Christ as he returns to establish a new heaven and a new earth (See Isaiah 65:17 and Revelation 21-22).

Elias notes that, “Rather than reassuring the believers with the message of the continuity of fellowship in Christ, the doctrine of the rapture succeeds in scaring them about the possibility of being left-behind” (188-189). Indeed, this is the theology that had me petrified through much of my youth. And it is the wildly successful “Left Behind” series by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye, based on this theological construct, that has spread this fear-mongering world-wide.

My purpose in reflecting on the present frenzy with rapture rhetoric is to ask the question how such thinking might affect our spirituality.

For one, it keeps one’s spirituality fear-based. The all-consuming question is whether you are ready to be raptured. This can be very damaging to children. It was for me. More than once I experienced the terror of thinking my family had been raptured and I had been left behind to fend for myself. But even for those who are certain they are ready for the rapture, it seems to me their spirituality is based on the avoidance of catastrophe. There is little room or time for the gentle whispering and wooing of the Spirit calling us to higher vistas.

Second, rapture theology can easily lead to arrogance and self-centered smugness. Most rapture enthusiasts think of themselves as part of a very small percentage of humanity which will be lifted up and away. It involves only my small tribe of religious zealots and I who have managed to get our ducks lined up in right order. We tried to tell others to get ready but since they refused to believe our story-line, they deserve to be left behind to experience the wrath of God. Some will even say that those who have never heard of this arrangement will also be left behind. With this approach to life, harshness and certitude readily raise their heads. There is little room for humility and mystery when one has global destiny all figured out.

Third, rapture theology encourages irresponsibility. With so much effort put into keeping the escape hatch prepared there is little time or inclination to pray the Lord’s Prayer; “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Why would you waste energy on improving life on earth if you are itching to get out of here? Why feed the hungry, clothe the naked, advocate for justice? Why bother looking for the presence of Christ in all the hidden and humble crevices of our existence? Why re-arrange the chairs on the deck of a sinking Titanic? The only real and relevant message you have is, “Get ready to get out of here!” There is little call to go deeper.

And fourth, rapture theology reveals its gnostic roots. For most of Christian history we have contended with platonic dualism which proclaims that matter is evil and spirit is good. Rapture buffs are pretty much caught in this trap. This world of matter, including our bodies, is forever trying to hold us back spiritually and trick us into believing that life in this world matters. It doesn’t really, they say, because it is headed for destruction. There remains no inclination to integrate all of God’s good creation, both physical and spiritual, into a holistic, healthy vision of where God wants to take creation.

Those who are seriously searching for a deeper spirituality would do well not to get side-tracked by all the bombast about the rapture now flooding the internet.